KOCHI: Coming up with ideas to dispel the boredom that arises due to excess time in hand can many a time be the start of a successful entrepreneurial journey. This was what Preetha Varghese, a resident of Chilavanoor in Kochi, found out when the lockdown initiated by the pandemic brought her business venture to a halt.
“I had been doing good business all over the country supplying plants via my online venture ‘Greenery by Preetz,” said Preetha. However, with the outbreak of the pandemic, the supply chain outside the state broke. “I was catering to the customers in the state and had a lot of time leftover. And this was nagging me. So I decided to indulge in cooking,” she said.
“That led to the launch of ‘Weekend Curry Pots’,” she said. “When I began, I didn’t think that it would grow so big and so fast. However, the success led me to launch another venture called ‘Popsicle by Preetz’,” she said. According to Preetha, in the case of Weekend Curry Pots, she gets nearly 30 orders per day on Friday, Saturday and Sunday.
“I easily make around Rs 85,000 to Rs 1 lakh per month,” Preetha said. She operates all these ventures from her home and does all the work right from cooking, packing to delivering the orders. “The menu, which is posted on the WhatsApp and FB pages, changes every weekend,” said Preetha, who is also getting bulk orders for cakes under her venture ‘Popsicles by Preetz’. She is now giving talks on starting businesses during spare time. “I wanted to show everyone, especially those who have been hit hard by the pandemic that we can turn the tide in our favour by doing something that we are talented in,” she added.